Swizz Beatz Dragged From Here To Rhythm Nation For Janet Jackson & Missy Elliott Verzuz Comparison

An old Instagram Live clip of Verzuz co-founders Swizz Beatz and Timbaland started making the rounds on Tuesday (September 15) that found the two arguing over a potential Missy Elliott versus Janet Jackson battle.

Timbo was convinced it was be an epic match, but Swizz wasn’t so sure. In fact, he insinuated Jackson didn’t have the material to keep up with Missy, subsequently causing an uproar on Twitter.

In the clip, Timbo says, “What about Janet and Missy?”

Swizz quickly shakes his head and replies, “No, because Missy could be multiple people. Janet just gotta be Janet. Missy’s in the comments right there. She says, ‘no Missy versus Busta, I’m his twin, cheerleader. My money on Bus-A-Bus. And we said that. Sis, we need you and everybody tag Missy ’cause she’s in the comments. Tell her that we need her.”

When Timbo asks Missy who she’d want to battle, he says, ‘See, Janet vault too big,’” to which Swizz says, “I don’t think so. I don’t agree with that.”

Twitter lit up with reactions to Swizz’s comments and he soon became a trending topic. Jackson is one of pop music’s most prolific stars with 11 solo studio albums under her belt, multiple hits with The Jackson 5, millions of albums sold and a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The Grammy Award-winning singer has No. 1 hits across three different decades, 27 Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, 10 No. 1s and 16 No. 1s on the R&B Chart. Seven of her albums have hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, including Control (1986),  Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989 and Janet (1993).

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On the flip side, Missy is also heralded as a musical icon. The Virginia native was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June 2019 having penned hits for numerous artists, including the late Aaliyah, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes and Monica.

As a solo artist, she’s pumped out six studio albums, which have all gone platinum or multi-platinum with the exception of 2005’s The Cookbook (the project was certified gold by the RIAA). In August 2019, she dropped a solo EP called Iconology, which peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard 200.

But Swizz doubled down on his comments and tweeted, “I still to this day don’t think Janet vs Missy is a good match up. I said what I said. y’all know that match up doesn’t make sense at all.”

Needless to say, Jackson fans were riled up after seeing Swizz’s comments and promptly took to the social media platform to weigh in.

Check some of the reactions out below.